The federal government made its position on an R18+ rating for video games quite clear last year in the lead up to the December 10 SCAG meeting. But David Ramli at ARN managed to get Communications Minister Stephen Conroy to personally endorse the rating, although his reasons for supporting it leave a bittersweet taste in the mouth. More »
Mark from Kotaku has been a tense combination of anxiety and excitement today with the Standing Committee of Attorneys General meeting to discuss an R18+ rating for video games today. But it looks like getting the AGs to unanimously agree to common sense may be a little bit beyond their abilities. More »
Big news for games fans yesterday – The Minister for Home Affairs Brendan O’ Connor officially announced on Sunday morning that the Julia Gillard Labor government officially supports an R18+ rating for video games in Australia. Now we just need the AGs to play ball. More »
Through a combination of chance and providence, I’ve spent the past few days in LA with Rockstar Games checking out the amazing Motionscan technology being used for their upcoming detective crime thriller L.A. Noire, while back home Minister for Home Affairs Brendan O’Connor is making announcements about adult games classification. Things are looking good. More »
At a public forum in the western Sydney suburb of Rooty Hill last night, Opposition Leader Tony Abbott said he would be “happy to look at” an R18+ rating for video games if he won the election. But he said he didn’t know there had even been a debate on the issue… More »
It’s time to stand up and take note, politicians, because gamers have put down their controllers and found their voices. According to Randolph Ramsey at Gamespot AU, the public discussion paper for the introduction of an R18+ adult classification received over 55,000 submissions. More »
If you haven’t yet submitted your thoughts as to why Australia needs to update its classifications system and introduce an R18+ rating for video games to the discussion paper, you should probably hurry. Remember, that the deadline for submissions is February 28, which is just 10 days away. More »
You know what this Monday needs? More anger. More outrage. Fortunately, there’s a nice long letter from Michael Atkinson over on Kotaku (or at least linked to from Kotaku) that spells out his position on the issue of an R18+ rating, which should provide plenty of ammunition for your resentment. More »
For those of you who haven’t yet caught episode two of Byteside, last week’s games show tackled the whole R18+ rating debate. What made the discussion really worth mentioning however was the inclusion on the panel of Paul Hunt, former Deputy Director of the OFLC. You know, the guys who actually ban games. More »
